Los Angeles COVID-19 Relief

Thank you for your support!

We’d like to say a very big thank you to everyone who helped make this program possible. Through hard work, perseverance and commitment, we’ve been able to positively contribute to the tremendous work being done to combat COVID-19 in Los Angeles County, the community of which is now well on its way to recovery, despite being one of the global epicenters for nearly a year.

In close collaboration with our trusted partners, CORE, Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and Kedren Community Health Center, we helped feed over 900,000 people and administer over 360,000 COVID-19 tests and over 140,000 vaccines between September 2020 and July 2021. Our teams also distributed large quantities of masks and sanitizer kits, participated in two water drops on Skid Row with local non-profit, Water Drop LA, supported the Assistance League of Los Angeles with their annual book drive and volunteered with local non-profit, TreePeople.

This was a truly collaborative effort and we’re incredibly grateful and proud of each and every one of our partners, volunteers and staff who helped make our first non-technical program such a success.

Crisis Overview

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause a significant impact to the Los Angeles (LA), California county area, but thankfully the numbers are significantly reducing and the rate of infection is slowing. To date, there are more than 1,244,254 confirmed cases, 24,354 deaths in Los Angeles County alone. The County Risk Level is now at yellow.

Our Work

In early July 2020, our assessment team deployed to Los Angeles, California to identify how we could be most effective in supporting the Los Angeles community through the COVID-19 crisis. Working closely with new and existing partners, we identified that the key needs related to COVID-19 were more volunteers to assist with food distribution and back-of-house support for COVID-19 testing and, more recently, vaccinations. In October 2020, we launched a program using our DM12 volunteer initiative to address these needs by increasing the capacity of partner organizations, Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and CORE, which is part of the operations at Dodgers Stadium and Pierce College. With approximately 30 volunteers per cohort, alongside the volunteers of our partners, we assembled approximately 15,000 emergency meal kits, distributed 60,000 meals to families in need and orchestrated 30,000 COVID-19 tests and 50,000 vaccinations on a weekly basis.

Volunteer Voices

“The AHAH team was wonderful and took our safety and time seriously, while providing a supportive network! I highly recommend this program to those who haven’t participated in service programs before as a way to stick a toe in the water and see if long term service projects are for you. All Hands and Hearts programs truly give you the opportunity to make a difference and be embraced by a community!” – Grace

Partner Spotlight

In the last few weeks of the program, as the need for volunteers at the COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites started to slow, our team continued to support the local community in a range of ways, including participating in habitat and ecology restoration work on National Park Service land with TreePeople. This work included tree planting to offset the effects of the I-5 interstate freeway expansion project, in which thousands of trees were lost.